


Timebruised

by Shadaras



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Gen, falling asleep, post season two, supportive friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:47:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26235889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadaras/pseuds/Shadaras
Summary: Michael and Tilly try to sleep, the first night afterDiscoveryslips through time.
Relationships: Michael Burnham & Sylvia Tilly
Comments: 10
Kudos: 16
Collections: Friendship Flash Fall 2020





	Timebruised

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pauraque](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pauraque/gifts).



> can you tell I am extremely excited for when s3 comes out?

“What did it feel like?” Tilly asked, breaking the silence as they both tried (and failed) to sleep.

Michael turned over to face her roommate and best friend, barely able to see in the minimal sleep-cycle lighting. “Powerful,” she said, because she didn’t need to ask what the topic was. There was only one thing Tilly’s question _could_ be about: Using the suit. “Dangerous. I could have been blown away by the timestream, especially leading _Discovery_ through.”

Tilly’s expression wasn’t visible, but Michael could well imagine the concern on her face when she said, “Did it hurt? Because it seemed like it could have.”

“Not exactly.” Michael sighed, shifting to stare at the empty ceiling. “It’s like… you know what it’s like to push your body to its limit. Running, or climbing, or staying up too long. And when you study something long enough and try and understand it, your brain can ache too.”

It wasn’t a question, but Michael stopped to try and formulate the next part, and Tilly filled the silence with a soft movement of her body against cloth; probably a nod. “Yeah,” she said a second later, confirming Michael’s assumption

“It’s like that, but for…” Michael groaned. “This is going to sound ridiculous.”

“That’s okay.” Tilly laughed, a delightfully normal sound in the middle of everything. “I’m pretty sure we’ve got past ridiculous plenty of times.”

Michael smiled, glad as ever for her friend’s optimism. “So it’s like that. But for the sense of progressing through time. Did Stamets ever tell you about experiencing the time loop?”

“A little bit.”

“That’s the closest thing I can think of, but what he described still isn’t right.” Michael bit her lip. “I could _see_ the way time looped in on itself, Tilly. When I moved I dipped in and out of time like a dolphin in the sea, and each time I moved in or out of the—the timestream, I guess—it was like standing in an airlock as it decompressed. I had a suit, but the blast could still suck me away if I wasn’t careful, if I didn’t keep myself aligned to make sure I broke through the slipstream just like diving into water from a height and making sure the surface tension doesn’t hurt me.”

“That sounds tiring.” Tilly hesitated, but then asked, “So why can’t you sleep?”

Michael laughed, because she’d been asking herself that question for the last three hours. “Why are you?” she asked, because Tilly hadn’t been less busy. “I don’t know if it’s physical tiredness. It’s like landing on a planet during that location’s night when it’s mid-morning shiptime. But even that’s not right. It’s… close, I guess.”

Tilly shook her head, hair dragging on her pillowcase with a distinctive sound. “Maybe we should talk about something sleepy instead. Or ask the computer to sing us a lullabye.”

“Do those help?”

“Sometimes. Let’s see if tonight is one of those times.” Tilly raised her voice to call, “Computer! Play my nighty-night mix!”

Soft sounds began pouring into the room; the hush of ocean waves and crickets a metronome for the single calm voice singing a tune Michael remembered hearing when she’d been young, but had forgotten in the long years on Vulcan.

She closed her eyes, and suspected Tilly did the same; at the very least, neither of them spoke more that night.


End file.
